The following (and above picture) were all taken in one 24 hour period...

We started our Tuesday with some Frisbee on the lawn and then headed to the visitors center to pick up a camping permit for beach camping! But before heading to the beach we had a few sights to see. We stopped at Crescent Lake for some sun tanning and swimming. If you swim a small ways out into the lake you can see 50 feet of clear water beneath you. Charlie, thrilled that this was the clearest lake he had ever seen, was brave enough to open his eyes under the water and was greeted with fish and lake creatures. Thank you Kayla for recommending this spot!!

Although tempted to check the availability at the Crescent Lake Lodge, we headed to the Sul Duc Waterfalls! A brief hike dropped you off at a wooden bridge peering down on the falls. Although gorgeous and certainly PAP worthy (pole areal photography), the experience was dampened by the hundreds of biting flies!! Each of us lost a small chunk of our deltoids to the flies that day, but Charlie got some cool pictures to make up for it:


Finally off to the beach, camping gear and bear box in hand (although there are no bears on the beach, only raccoons and chipmunks) . After a trudge through drift wood and some dancing with the rising tide, we were delighted to come across the BEST CAMPSITE IN THE WORLD!!!


The site was located in an area known as Hole in the Wall and wonderfully furnished with an epic ocean side view, camp fire ring, drift wood tables and easy access to tide pools and wilderness trails.


Awesome Rocks Lining the Beach:



Beautiful Sunset view of our :


Becca Cooking Dinner on our Driftwood table:
Couscous and Black Bean Delight!


Gorgeous Sunset:

Hole in the Wall!



Tide Pools!
We spent the morning exploring tide pools packed with sea anenomes and sea stars. Although very excited about the sea life, we were hoping for an octopus as the area is known for its extra large octopi.

After tide pools, coffee, oatmeal and peaches we started the trip back, promising each other that we would come back one day. The tide was getting pretty high so we had to time the waves just right.

We made it back pretty dry with enough time for pole aerial photography of drift wood. And we were off in search of the Rain Forest ..........

Who knew that a ferry could transport two passengers and a Toyota to the Olympic Peninsula for only $21!!!

We had a great time eating salt and vinegar chips and wandering around the boat as we zipped to our next destination.







Becca: Beauty on the Bow
Charlie: Stallion with chips















Upon driving off the boat Charlie was instantly reminded of New Zealand. The landscape was lush and fragrant, and the roads desolate for our exploring.


After driving around for a bit we settled into a pretty little campsite minutes away from the Sound's Shore. We spent a little while calling friends and family while skipping stones and exploring the beach and then retreated to our campsite to make mozzarella, tomato, and basil sandwiches and sodium free minestrone soup.

We slept well only being woken periodically by the paper mill across the shore which let out a loud shriek every so often as it blew off some debris.

Sunday night we had a delicious dinner with Kayla's family Mom, Dad, Older Sister and Husband and baby Cadence who gave the best high fives and kisses in the world. Post dinner the boys tried out the hot tub on her parent's awesome wooden deck. Unfortunately the hot tub wasn't as hot as they had hoped, and we scurried home to use the shower, the last we would have for a while.....

Seattle Pacific University:

Monday began our last day in Seattle. We visited Seattle University and Seattle Pacific University. Both small gorgeous Christian schools with nursing programs fairly close to downtown. Seattle Pacific Univeristy's local reminded us just a bit of North Berkeley and was minutes from a Sound View park with swings and picnic tables. After swinging for a bit we headed downtown for lunch and grocery shopping. Here we were met by thousands of other tourists who seemed to have the same plans...

Seattle University:

We bought basil at Pike's Place Market and quickly vacated as there were too many people to handle, and grabbed paninis with homemade jack cheese accross the street at an equally crowded shop. Although delicous, we decided to hit the road and get groceries on the way to our next destination, the Olympic Peninsula!

A reoccurring theme of Charlie doing handstands in grass:

Here I am laying in a plush feather soft queen sized bed in the West Port Bayside Bed and Breakfast relaxing after a hearty meal of waffles, strawberries and cream, yogurt, and fruit salad. Its been a few days since our last blog due a lack of Internet access............. Lets try to catch up.

Sunday was our last wonderful day spent with Ryan and Kayla. We woke up early and headed to Leavenworth, a city very similar to Solvang in SoCal. Surprisingly, there were some pretty awesome climbing routes. While Charlie and Ryan tackled the crack, Kayla and I chit chatted about girly things and took some pictures:



After a climb or two, the four of us headed to the main downtown area for some Bratwursts and Beer in a local beer garden. I must say, the Veggie Bratwurst was delicious, and according to Charlie it wasn't too far off from the real thing. Being in Leavenworth was almost like being in Disneyland, lots of tourists and dressed up folk, and ICE CREAM! Blackberry and Mintchip of course.

Seattle!

We made it to Seattle by 8:30 on Friday and were warmly welcomed by Sunny Skies, plently of bridges and water ways and of course, Ryan, Kayla, MJ, Sofia, Jax, and Keifer in their new and adorable house. After some authentic Seattle Mexican cuisine, 3G Margaritas, Vino Verde, cathcing up, and mandaline playing we enjoyed a good night's sleep in their expectant baby's room.
We keep discovering new awesome things about Seattle: free outdoor rock climbing, free parks on the lake, friendly folks, and diving boards!

We spent the afternoon climbing and dreaming of living on a lake side property with a window filled house and our own personal boat dock. If only we had 1.5 million dollars to spare.....




Rock Climbing rules: Don't die, Don't break any bones, and don't break your skull....







Ryan and Kayla seem to have it pretty good up here, warm summers, snowy winters, and plenty of wood to spare....

Ashland highlights

Roast beef and roast vegetable paninis

Natural bubbling rotten egg mineral water fountains

Charlie’s hand stands

Awesome cleanly mowed green green grass parks

6 hours between here and there

Portland!!!

We stayed downtown at hip new hotel Modera known for its living wall, artsy fartsy décor and fabulous fur throws on the bed, sleeping with the fur was almost like sleeping with the cats minus the furious purring and pawing. Orca and Ipa we miss you!! We got into Portland late and spent the majority of the night sipping on beer in the hotel room and exploring the downtown area on the FREE public transit. Dinner was elk and black IPA for Barley and hand made veggie patty and Miss Spelt for Becca at a local brewery. After a glorious night’s sleep we walked to the “mission district” of Portland along the river and broke our fast at a splendid breakfast joint. Parsley, garlic, and tofu. eggs local feta, tomatoes and basil. Blueberry almond muffins. and three cups of coffe each.

We spent the afternoon at OHSU, where Becca is applying to school. As Charlie put it, the buildings at OHSU like to have air underneath them to promote healing and inspiration…lots of sky bridges and floating buildings. We spoke to Bridget, one of the admissions counselors for the nursing department, for 30 mins of so, and after some convincing we decided to explore her part of town the North East Quadrant. We stopped at a boutique chocolate shop to pick up some ginger chocolate toffee delight, and a local wine bar for some vino! It was before 4PM so the owner couldn’t legally “serve” us, but he gladly popped open three bottles for our generous sampling, spilling some along the way as he was already pretty toasty. We walked away well served with Vino Verde and a Chardonnay both only $8.00! Next stop, a brief tour of the NE Neighborhood, very similar to Oakland with Victorian cottages and duplexes and abundant porch-age; however the local tomato plants seemed deprived with only a few straggly fruits, (that is compared to Barley’s bountiful garden patch).

We decided on a brightly adorned Cuban restaurant for lunch: fried plantains, yuka, cabbage salad, beans and rice, braised pork Cuban style sandwich with salsa, Cuban espresso, and sauce from the Philippines. Despite Charlie’s desire to buy ice and hit the road, we ordered a Mango Empanada which of course was well worth the extra time… and now, on our way to Washington state! Ryan and Kayla here we come!

We started the blog to document our second annual August Love Trip (ALT 2009). Our plan is to tour the Pacific Northwest, and then coast back down the shoreline... we will see how far we make it!

Thumbing through a checklist Rebecca wrote before our departure, I noticed one item that I dont usually bring with me...a picture of our cats, Ipa and Orca :)






Some other precious items we left behind: our home grown tomatoes, and Thomas :)






We spent Wednesday night under the stars watching the persied meteor showers up by Mt Shasta.


After a wonderful nights sleep we woke up to a beautiful Thursday. The morning was spent drinking freshly brewed espresso and skipping through the brush along the Sacromento river searching for blackberries!! We collected an entire tubberware full!! However, our excitement overblackberries was curbed when we realized that blackberries must be the Oregon's state bush, they grow everywhere!




We got ourselves stranded on an island in the process (thank god for man bridge) after having crossed a stream. We braved it and forded the river to get back to our car and begin our trek to Oregon!!!!